The Luminous Life Podcast

Karin's back to test Augustinus Bader’s The Elixir and share exactly who it serves (and who can skip), how it made us need less moisturizer, and a simple 10-day routine to actually see results. We also talk red light masks, Saint Jane’s reformulation, Joanna Vargas, and our new obsession with local coffee spots Bergen County Roasters and Graze—before spiraling into fantasy football confessions.

Try it / Talk to us:

Email [email protected]

or DM @luminouslifepodcast for routine advice or to ask about Elixir samples (limited).

Birthdays can stir up more than cake cravings ... they can bring big questions about purpose, milestones, and self-worth. In this bonus birthday episode of The Luminous Life Podcast, Erika sits down with Marcella as she turns 30 and reflects on how far she’s come.

From birthday anxiety to self-discovery, dating herself, and learning to trust her own path, Marcella shares the mindset shifts that helped her move from comparison to confidence. Erika brings her signature warmth, humor, and “big sister” energy to the conversation — and together they remind us that your 30s (and every decade after) can be your best chapter yet.

✨ What we cover in this episode:

How Marcella made peace with birthdays (and why 30 feels different)

Letting go of society’s “formula” for success

Dating yourself and learning to love yourself deeply

Why trusting yourself is the ultimate birthday gift

Manifesting joy, fulfillment, and meaningful work in your 30s and beyond

Whether you’re turning 30, 40, 50 or simply navigating a season of change, this episode is your reminder that you’re right on time.

🎧 Listen, laugh, and celebrate with us — then share this episode with a friend who needs a little birthday pep talk.

✨ If you’re in North Jersey, stop by Luminous to experience beauty that feels like therapy.

💌 Questions or stories to share? Email us at [email protected]

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📲 Follow along on Instagram: @luminouslifepodcast

What do brows, sneakers, and dramatic haircuts have in common? They all hold stories about beauty, identity, and how we navigate changing trends at every age.

In this episode, Erika and Marcella share:

✨ The truth about brow trends—why thin isn’t in (and won’t be again, if we can help it).

👟 The search for sneakers that are chic and comfortable.

💇‍♀️ The emotional freedom that comes with a good haircut during life transitions.

👖 Fashion flashbacks: 90s favorites, early 2000s comebacks, and what’s worth skipping.

💦 The timeless essentials of skincare, no matter what the beauty industry sells.

At its heart, this is a conversation about friendship, confidence, and the small choices that help us feel at home in our bodies and in our style.

✨ Glow Guide of the week: Resist the urge—don’t thin your brows.

🔗 Connect with us:

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @luminouslifepodcast

Feeling playful takes safety. We talk soft power, wholesome girl summers, creative hobbies, corporate beauty politics, and what real support looks like, so you can be the boss and braid hair at the pool.

This week, Erika (Gen X) and Marcella (late 20s) unpack the quiet revolution happening in women’s lives: when we finally feel safe, we let ourselves play and everything softens. From “wholesome cute girl summer,” sewing class wins, and barefoot picnics to rethinking feminism as and (not or), lashes in corporate spaces, and what healthy masculine support actually looks like. This is a love letter to women choosing giggles, mermaids, and pajama-pant projects without surrendering ambition.

Glow Guide: Take inventory of where you need more feminine softness or masculine structure (we all carry both). If you want play, we wish you safety. If you want leadership, we wish you fire. 🔥✨

Boutique owner Jenny Colangelo on building Hustle & Heart in Ridgewood, movement as medicine, and the art of being yourself online, dance breaks, ‘90s hip-hop, and realistic mom self-care included.

On this week’s Luminous Life Podcast, Erika and Marcella sit down with Jenny Colangelo, owner of Hustle & Heart (Ridgewood, NJ), to talk about opening a boutique in 2021, growing a business while raising three kids, saying yes (then learning when to say no) to pop-ups, and why moving your body can flip your mindset in a single class. We get into branding through music (hello, ‘90s hip-hop), community collabs with local studios, red-light masks, dry brushing, honest customer service (no “everything looks great” here), and the power of being your full self on Instagram—dance breaks included.

Guest: Jenny Colangelo, Hustle & Heart

IG @shop.hustleheart

• Store: 12 South Broad St, Ridgewood, NJ

Hosts: Erika Menanteaux & Marcella Barricella

IG @luminouslifepodcast

• Email [email protected]

You’ll hear about:

Pivoting from fitness to retail during/after COVID

Building community with women-owned businesses

Motherhood, mindset, and realistic workouts (yes, once a week counts)

The mental health side of movement (“giving the bags the business”)

Curating for women 30–50+: Splits59 stripes, Varley double-soft, elevated basics

Authentic marketing: dance outside the store, mailman cameos, and being you online

Local love: Sook (yes, it’s “Sooooook”), pop-ups, and shopping small

If you loved this convo, follow @luminouslifepodcast and text this episode to a girlfriend who needs a nudge to move her body, try the class, or finally wear the matching set.

What if therapy wasn’t just talk...but a full integration of mind, body, spirit…and maybe even psychedelics?

In this bold and refreshing conversation, Erika and Marcella sit down with their own therapist, Lara Maurino Donahue, to explore how women can move from surviving to thriving. With more than two decades of experience, Lara blends traditional therapy with somatic practices, spiritual wisdom, and psychedelic integration. She also happens to be a beauty enthusiast (lashes + brows included), reminding us that authenticity is the ultimate glow.

We talk about:

Why group therapy can accelerate growth in ways individual therapy can’t

The difference between traditional talk therapy and integrative therapy

How psychedelic medicine is helping women access and process their deepest feelings

The importance of integration; living your lessons after the session or ceremony ends

Beauty, confidence, and what Lara calls “enhanced natural”

Why your 40s can be a renaissance, not a crisis

This is an episode for the woman who’s therapy-tired, therapy-curious, or just curious about what it means to heal in a more embodied, connected way.

💫 Psychedelics, beauty, connection, authenticity—it’s all on the table.

👉 To connect with Lara https://laradonahue.com/

👉 If you’re in North Jersey and looking for beauty that feels like therapy, come visit us at Luminous.

📩 [email protected]

📲 Instagram @luminouslifepodcast

This week on The Luminous Life Podcast, Erika and Marcella are in full summer recap mode, sharing stories about beach walks gone wrong, flip-flop injuries (yes, peroneal tendonitis is real!), and the surprising products that actually help.

But it’s not all laughs: Erika opens up about the deep lessons she’s learning while caring for her mom, and how surrender, gentleness, and active rest are reshaping her approach to life. Together, we talk about:

✨ Flip-flop fails and why foot support matters

✨ The joy of late-summer rituals (hello, exfoliation & candles)

✨ Music that moves us, from The Beatles to Bieber

✨ Why surrendering can bring peace during life’s hardest seasons

✨ Fun vs. funny: are you one, the other, or both?

If you’re craving lighthearted banter mixed with real talk about beauty, aging, caregiving, and finding joy in the small things—this one’s for you.

👉 Listen now, share with a friend who gets it, and let us know: are you fun, funny, or both?

📩 [email protected]

📲 Instagram @luminouslifepodcast

You think you know who you are… until a DNA test throws you a curveball.

In this laugh-out-loud, heart-squeezing episode of The Luminous Life, we sit down with Dina Santarelli, commercial real estate powerhouse, self-proclaimed foodie, and one of Erika’s OG lash clients to talk about:

🍕 The best pizza in Bergen County (and why she’s mildly obsessed)

🇮🇹 The identity crisis that came from learning she’s only 72% Italian

💼 Thriving as a woman in a male-dominated industry

💖 How she met “her person” at 48 (and why she nearly swiped the wrong way)

💄 Beauty, confidence, and loving yourself at any age, size, or stage of life

Dina’s story is part rom-com, part career masterclass, and part “pull up a chair and eat with us.” Whether you’re here for the business wisdom, the relationship hope, or just a good restaurant recommendation, you’ll leave feeling lighter, hungrier, and more in love with your own journey.

Press play, pour the wine, and maybe… order a pizza.

📌 Connect with Dina: @theconnectedcontessa

📌 Follow The Luminous Life: @luminouslifepodcast

What if stepping away from your career wasn’t the end of your story but the beginning of your impact?

In this episode of The Luminous Life, we’re joined by Alina Albano, former NYC attorney, mother of five, and now a board member at Family Promise, a nonprofit helping families facing homelessness in Bergen County, NJ.

Alina’s story is equal parts bold, hilarious, and deeply affirming ... a reminder that we are allowed to evolve. From high-powered legal work to diaper duty to rediscovering her voice and purpose in the nonprofit space, this conversation speaks to any woman who’s ever said:

“I love my kids... but I need more.”

We explore:

Life after leaving a traditional career

Finding meaning beyond motherhood

Why women are allowed to change — again and again

Self-care as alone time, not spa days

Aging, style, and trusting yourself more at 40 than you ever did at 20

✨ This is a love letter to reinvention and to the women who refuse to disappear in the process. ✨

📍 Support Family Promise: bergenfamilypromise.org

🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday

🛍️ Shop curated skincare + wellness: shop.getluminous.com

📲 Follow us on Instagram: @luminouslifepodcast

💬 If this episode resonates, share it with the woman in your life who's ready to begin again — and leave us a review so more listeners can find these stories.

In this raw and radiant episode, Erika and Marcella sit down with luxury travel queen, small business champion, and certified good-time-girlie, Julie Shotmeyer. From building Jet Set Getaways after her first divorce to navigating another one at 49, Julie shares what it means to rebuild, reinvest in yourself, and boldly declare: I have no more f**ks to give.

This episode is a masterclass in community, connection, and claiming your joy! Whether you're planning your dream vacation or just figuring out what the next chapter looks like. If you've ever cried behind sunglasses on the lash bed or needed a reminder that reinvention is possible (and fabulous), this one’s for you.

What we talk about:

Why shopping local is more than a motto—it’s a movement

Going from luxury travel to zero income overnight (and bouncing back)

Fighting for yourself during life transitions

The importance of “I got you” energy (and when to give it to yourself)

Dating again, traveling the world solo, and what makes a sexy match

Building Jet Set Getaways from nothing—and becoming a global powerhouse

Why your network is your net worth (literally)

Raising a grounded daughter in a luxe world

🎧 Listen if you love: women-owned businesses, travel recs, beauty rituals, emotional resilience, luxury mindset, Jersey realness, and female friendship that runs deep.

🔹 Follow Julie: @jetsetgetaways

🔹 Book your next dream trip: www.jetsetgetaways.com

🔹 Shop Julie’s favorite self-care picks at: shop.getluminous.com

🔹 Visit us IRL at Luminous in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ

🔹 Need the Butter Elixir Body Oil? Don’t worry, Julie made us restock 😅